Empirical Policymaking: FinRegLab CEO Melissa Koide

Jo Ann Barefoot

Jo Ann Barefoot is CEO & Founder of the Alliance for Innovative Regulation, Cofounder of Hummingbird RegTech, and host of the podcast show Barefoot Innovation. A noted advocate of “regulation innovation,” Jo Ann is Senior Fellow Emerita at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Business & Government and is writing a book on financial innovation and regulation. She has been Deputy Comptroller of the Currency, partner at KPMG, Co-Chairman of Treliant Risk Advisors, and staff member at the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. She’s an angel investor, serves on the board of Oportun, and advises financial companies and governments worldwide. She serves on the fintech advisory committee for FINRA, is an Executive Board Member of the International RegTech Association (IRTA), a member of the Milken Institute U.S. FinTech Advisory Committee, and a member of the California Government Operations Agency Blockchain Working Group Advisory Board. Jo Ann previously chaired the board of the Financial Health Network (previously called the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI), and previously served on the CFPB’s Consumer Advisory Board. Jo Ann has published nearly 200 articles and is a popular keynote speaker, addressing thousands of people annually throughout the world.

Melissa Koide

Prior to establishing FinRegLab, Melissa served almost five years as the U.S. Treasury Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consumer Policy. In that role, Melissa led the work to create the agency’s consumer policy positions and research on how banks and nonbanks were leveraging data and technology to improve consumers’ financial access and well-being. Melissa also helped to establish the myRA, a government offered preretirement savings account. She has testified repeatedly before the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees and spoken widely to policy, industry, and consumer-advocacy audiences. Melissa currently serves on the New York Fed’s Innovation Council, FINRA’s Fintech Industry Committee, and the New York State Department of Financial Services’ Financial Innovation Advisory Board.